The Dying Newsroom

The San Jose Mercury News, like many of its beleaguered competitors in the newspaper industry, has lost more than a quarter of its newsroom staff since the dotcom champagne bubble burst. In the wake of the exodus, debris shoals of outdated monitors, discarded Rolodexes, and broken headsets litter the empty cubicles. "This place feels like a morgue," writes San Jose Mercury News designer Martin Gee of his 47-photo Flickr collection documenting the loss. The photos, taken one night after the last round of layoffs and buyouts, show the very present sadness that remains. Below, our editors' selection of the lot, with Gee's comments about the photos. —Laura McClure